Playground
by Poesia-Raro
Summary: A small Abhirika love story, set in a time when everything was beautiful. Written in response to several requests.


**::/Playground/::**

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A/N: Finally, here it is! The long-awaited request! Enjoy!

Just one thing- after reading it, please don't complain that it's not what you asked for. (This is aimed mainly at you, VB!) You asked for Abhirika, you got it. Enough said. ;)

On with the show, then...

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Dewdrops twinkled on the surface of the leaves and grass as the sun bathed the area in soft light through the screen of clouds. The moisture contributed to the pleasant coolness of the atmosphere, and everyone was greatly enjoying it.

"Yeouw!"

Well, almost everyone.

"Can't you look where you're going?" demanded Tasha, standing with her hands on her hips and looking down at her friend, her tone greatly patronising. Vivek huffed indignantly as he scrambled to his feet, dusting off his clothes. "I can't help it if the grass is slippery!"

Their bickering, naturally, drew the attention of several others, who immediately hastened over to eagerly witness the escalating fight. At one far side of the playground, however, two children stood alone. One was a six-year-old boy with a lot of silky hair that hung in his wide, shiny dark eyes, dressed in jeans and a sky blue shirt. Accompanying him was a five-year-old girl with delicate, feline features and bouncing dark curls that fell past her shoulders. She wore a pretty white lace frock, and the boy was pointing derisively at it.

"Ha ha! You can't play!" Abhijeet sang in a supercilious manner, making a face at her as he did so. "You'll get your frock all dirty! Ha-ha!"

"No, no, no!" Tarika stamped her foot, her little face contorted in an angry pout. "I wanna play!"

"Can't play! Can't play!" Abhijeet chanted, gesticulating forcefully in tune as he pulled Tarika's hair. "Leave me alone!" she wailed, pushing him away and running off in the opposite direction, sobbing. "Crybaby!" Abhijeet yelled after her, and she momentarily stopped crying to throw a retort back at him over her shoulder. "You're the meanest boy in the world and I hate you!"

As she ran, blinded by her tears, she suddenly collided headlong with something. A little shriek escaped her lips, but someone caught her by the shoulders before she could fall. Raising her head, she found herself staring up into a familiar face that was smiling down at her. "Hello beta!"

"Hi, ACP uncle," Tarika replied, sniffling. ACP Pradyuman frowned as he saw her eyes shimmering with tears. "What's wrong, little one?" he asked, kneeling down to her level and taking out his handkerchief to wipe her tearstained face. Her lip quivering, Tarika pointed, and ACP Pradyuman's gaze followed her finger to land on Abhijeet, who was lolling around the edge of the playground. "What did Abhijeet do?" he asked Tarika, who let out a small, hiccuppy sob. "He pulled my hair and said I can't play because my frock will get dirty." She showed him her frock, turning slightly from side to side to display it to full advantage. "Pretty, isn't it?"

"Very pretty indeed," ACP Pradyuman agreed. "That's why Abhijeet didn't let you play... he didn't want you to get it dirty and spoil it."

He could see Tarika pondering his words. "But he's so _mean!" _she insisted. "He pulled my hair and called me a crybaby." She sniffled again, and ACP Pradyuman took her by the hand and led her over to a nearby bench. Lifting her up onto it, he sat down beside her. "Tarika, beta, there's something you have to understand about boys."

"What?" She tilted her head inquisitively up at him, and he smiled. "Boys tease you because they like you. You may not understand it now, but when you get older you'll know exactly what I mean." He patted her head. "Stop crying now. You're a good girl, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh." Tarika nodded emphatically, her curls bobbing up and down, and ACP Pradyuman smiled and patted her cheek before getting up and proceeding to the other end of the playground, where Abhijeet was now sitting under a tree and staring off into space. "Abhijeet?"

The little boy's head snapped up, and he waved half-heartedly. "Hi, ACP uncle."

Sitting down beside him, ACP Pradyuman decided to come straight to the point. "Did you have a fight with Tarika?" Obviously Abhijeet hadn't been expecting the question. He stared up at ACP Pradyuman in amazement for a second, then nodded slowly. "Did you see that nice white dress she's wearing? I told her she'd get it dirty if she played, and she started crying!" He spoke as though such a reaction was thoroughly ludicrous, and ACP Pradyuman shook his head in exasperated amusement. "What am I going to do with you, Abhijeet?"

"Huh?" Abhijeet blinked up at him through the bangs that were falling over his forehead, clearly not understanding. ACP Pradyuman elaborated patiently. "Beta, you have to understand something about girls."

"What?"

"They get hurt easily. That's why you have to take care of them." He smiled down at Abhijeet. "Tarika's your friend, is she not?"

"Uh-huh," Abhijeet nodded. "Well, she's upset because you fought with her. And what do you do when your friend's upset?" ACP Pradyuman asked. In reply, Abhijeet scrambled to his feet and ran off purposefully in Tarika's direction, leaving ACP Pradyuman beaming proudly after him.

Tarika was sitting on the bench, absently playing with a flower she had found nearby. She was no longer crying, but her face was still sad. As she turned the flower over and over in her hands, a hand suddenly appeared in her line of vision, holding out a chocolate bar. She looked up curiously to meet shiny dark eyes, and Abhijeet clutched his ears in apology. "Sorry."

"It's OK," she mumbled, and he held out the chocolate again. "Look what I got for you!"

She briefly scrutinised the chocolate and looked up at him with some amount of suspicion. "Isn't this your favourite?"

"Yeah," Abhijeet said doggedly, "but I got it for you. Go on, take it." She tentatively took it from him, watching him with wary eyes all the while, and slowly opened it. Pulling off the entire wrapper, she broke the chocolate in two and handed him one half. "That's for you."

"Thanks," he said, and both of them ate their chocolate in silence, occasionally sneaking sideways glances at one another. As Tarika licked her sticky fingers, Abhijeet suddenly leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She looked at him with her eyes widened to nearly twice the usual size, and he shrugged nonchalantly. "You're nice."

"You're nice too." She scooted over and gave him a quick hug, and he smiled. "C'mon," he said, getting down from the bench. "Let's go play."

"What about my frock?" she asked, a quizzical expression flitting across her face, and Abhijeet made an impatient noise. "It's OK, you can always give it to your mummy to wash. Now come on!" She hopped down from the bench as well, and both of them held hands and ran off to join their friends.

As he watched them, ACP Pradyuman smiled. They would understand someday.

**~THE END~**

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A/N: So? Did you like? I hope you did, because this will probably be my last Abhirika story until/unless I get a really interesting request or- though it's unlikely- come up with a really good idea. Now don't get all worked up about it, because I can't help it if my opinions (and shipping preferences) differ from the general public of .

Whatever it is, please review! :)


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